The violent and lucrative world of mobsters and underground crime has always been a point of fascination for Hollywood. Take The Godfather, Scarface, Donnie Brasco, or literally any Martin Scorsese movie. These films continue to strike a chord with audiences, but with such a solid foundation already laid out by legendary filmmakers like Scorsese, it can be a challenge to bring something new and exciting to this genre. Danny A. Abeckaser’s Inside Man (not to be confused with the 2006 Spike Lee and Denzel Washington film of the same) is the latest effort that tries to achieve this, but ultimately falls into derivative trappings.
Based on true events, Inside Man is set in 1970s New York and follows police detective Bobby Belucci (Emile Hirsch). When he walks in on his wife Mary (Ashley Greene) having an affair with a mystery man, he nearly beats him to death. Bobby is demoted at work, and with his life slowly falling apart, is determined to prove himself to Mary and his boss (Bo Dietl). He stumbles across an opportunity to go undercover as a criminal and infiltrate the DeMeo mob syndicate, led by ruthless killer Roy DeMeo (Abeckaser). With the intention of getting close to DeMeo in order to take him down, Bobby begins to lose his sense of self in the role and finds himself far deeper than he ever could have imagined. He may not be able to come back from this one.
Abeckaser offers an authentic recreation of the underground world of the ‘70s in New York, thanks to convincing production and costume design that will pull viewers in immediately. Hirsch is the known star of the film, and his performance is perfectly fine, but props should be given to Abeckaser, who is on double duty as both director and actor. Abeckaser plays Roy DeMeo, and is impressively intimidating. The film knows how to build tension and keep viewers on their toes, as Bobby does everything to not be discovered and comes very close several times. It also isn’t afraid to shy away from the brutality of this world, with graphic violence often on display.
While the story and film itself are entertaining and intriguing, one can’t help but feel like Inside Man is also a blatant Goodfellas rip-off. The story and characters from Scorsese’s movie are obviously different, but inspiration from the director’s seminal mafia film is evident in almost every scene. Just as Ray Liotta does in Goodfellas, Hirsch’s outsider character constantly narrates, offering exposition as to who is who and what is happening. It even borrows a majority of Scorsese’s stylistic choices, like freeze frames, montages and slow motion shots. Unfortunately, Abeckaser’s film lacks the flair and energy of Scorsese’s masterpiece, making it feel disposable as it relies too heavily on conventions and cliches.
Inside Man doesn’t offer anything new to the world of mobsters in cinema, and will mostly remind audiences of better films in the same vein. However, it is far from the worst of these kinds of movies, and should have fans of the genre invested for its ninety-minute runtime.
